A new Justice Department Inspector General’s report rips former U.S. Attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke for leaking information, misleading his bosses and violating legal ethics during the “Fast and Furious” firearms-smuggling scandal.

The report says Justice Department officials referred their findings to Bar associations in Arizona and the District of Columbia for possible disciplinary action against Burke. It described his conduct as “wholly unbefitting a U.S. attorney” and “particularly egregious.”

Burke, who recently launched an Arizona-based global security company with other prominent political figures, did not respond to e-mail and phone messages.

He resigned as U.S. attorney for Arizona in August 2011 after admitting that he had divulged information to the media in what critics said was an effort to sabotage whistle-blowers critical of the Justice Department.

An Arizona Bar spokesman confirmed that an investigation of Burke is under way but would not disclose details. The state Bar regulates attorneys and issues recommendations to the state Supreme Court for discipline of those found culpable for ethical breeches.

The Inspector General report stemmed from Operation Fast and Furious, an undercover probe in which federal agents allowed hundreds of firearms to be purchased and shipped from Arizona south of the border to Mexican drug cartels.

The stated objective was to gather enough intelligence to prosecute kingpins in the smuggling business, but that notion has since been disclaimed, as an unapproved mistake, by President Obama and Justice Department administrators. Congressional critics insist it was approved — and gave lethal firepower to narcotics syndicates.

Burke, as U.S. attorney for Arizona, presided over the case and supervised prosecutors who worked with special agents at the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The investigators monitored numerous purchases by so-called “straw buyers,” but allowed the purchased AK-47s and other weapons to “walk” into Mexico. Two of the semiautomatic rifles were used during the 2010 slaying of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry west of Nogales.

Among the agents critical of Fast and Furious was John Dodson, who shared his concerns with members of Congress and in March 2011, gave an interview to CBS News. The ensuing federal investigation created a nationwide political furor.

Justice Department records have subsequently shown that Burke made frantic efforts to deflate the controversy, disputing Dodson’s assertions and telling supervisors in e-mails that guns recovered at the scene of Terry’s death had not been among the weapons allowed to “walk.”

The AK-47 in question was acquired by a straw buyer named Jaime Avila, who had been under surveillance for months. According to the inspector general’s report, Burke provided an internal memorandum to the New York Times in mid-June 2011 to incorrectly suggest that Avila was not being monitored when that weapon was purchased.

One day later, ATF agents testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Dodson told lawmakers that, in Fast and Furious, “we, the ATF, failed to fulfill one of our most fundamental obligations: to care take the public trust, in part to keep guns out of the hands of criminals.” Another agent said the operation was a “colossal failure,” and blamed the U.S. Attorney’s Office for refusing to seize guns and prosecute suspects.

When Burke was questioned by Deputy Attorney General James Cole about leaks, the IG report says, he provided vague answers and then declined to respond to questions. The report says internal investigators concluded that Burke was responsible for releasing the Avila memo and attempted to mislead his boss.

Days later, the IG report says, while already under investigation for one disclosure, Burke attempted to sabotage Dodson’s credibility by providing a classified ATF report to Fox News. That report, written by Dodson, described an earlier proposal to sell firearms to a straw buyer without making an arrest. The plan was, in fact, carried out, and Dodson allowed six guns into the hands of criminals, but he later said he regretted the operation and was merely carrying out orders.

E-mails between Burke and his subordinates show the U.S. attorney viewed Dodson as a turncoat who blew the whistle on a practice that he previously engaged in.

“Unbelievable,” Burke wrote to Patrick Cunningham, his chief criminal prosecutor. “This guy called (U.S. Sen. Charles) Grassley and CBS to unearth what he in fact was proposing to do himself. When you thought the hypocrisy of this whole matter had hit the limit already.”

Cunningham also resigned amid the scandal and exercised his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when subpoenaed by the Oversight Committee.

The inspector general concluded that, as Fast and Furious unraveled, Burke believed Justice Department officials were “throwing my office under the bus,” and decided to mount a clandestine defense through the media. It notes that he leaked the Dodson memo by sending a message from his private e-mail account to a friend, who then forwarded it to a reporter.

Frederick Hill, director of communications with the Oversight Committee, said Burke’s behavior reflects an “ugly track record of retaliating against whistle-blowers” by the Obama administration. “Leaking misleading information to reporters is just one way this administration and its political appointees try to muddy the waters when under scrutiny,” he added.

Burke became U.S. Attorney in September 2009. His government career included stints as top aide to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in her current post, at the Governor’s Office and at the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.

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